Cruise Control

Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty

Tom Cruise

It seems the German government is delving into the casting business. It does not want Scientologist Tom Cruise to play celebrated anti-Hitler officer Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg in the World War II thriller Valkyrie, due out in 2008. If Cruise stays in the cast, Germany will deny permits to film in its military buildings. The dustup dates back to 1997, when Germany, which classifies Scientology as a cult, began paying spies to keep tabs on adherents. Most of the spying ended in 2001, but Cruise and Germany have traded accusations of fascism ever since.